Railway car



Jan. 9, 1940. A. A. JOHNSON 2,185,700

' RAILWAY CAR Filed July l5, 1937 2 Sheets-Shec 1 ff 7@ mi? @f 65 'll 67 75 5ml; Sr

.3/ 66 90 90 621 64 59 37 /Lf/ar f4'. JOHNSON.

1N VENTOR.

70 +5 57 22 .79 A//rA/Eas.'d6 BY I ATTORNEYS.

Jan 9 1940. A. A. JOHNSON '2,186,700

RAILWAY CAR Filed July 15, 1957 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 1N VEN TOR.

f ATTORNEYS .Patutdjllen. 9, .1940 'y 1 fIV'hisinvention relates. torailway cars, trucks and other like vehicles,.".a'nd constitutes-anime provement over .therailway Y cau` set forth in y.

` l Inv vmy v'c'zopennling application above vreferred to, Iwprovdea railway carffor the shipment= oi citrus fruits such as oranges and y'g rapefruitsin loose blulk form, .and'wherei'nthe railway .car isy yjl provided with a centrally located dischargeloutf-l let' and a fixed flooring inclinedaway from said` discharge outlet. 'I'hisitconstruction causes the carload lot ofjfruittofg'rayitate toward the discharge outlet during an' unloading operation, l 1I thus eliminating the manual unloading .of the car. I have'discovered that aself unloading car .having fixed inclinedflooring is not satisfactory in instances where the .car isfto be used for transf porting crated or packedy articles wherein .a 'at n horizontal floor is desired. Itis tlilerefore 4one of. the principal features;` loij this Ainvention to .provide .a self-unloading .railway car withzanjustabile ilooring whereby the flooring may be .nor-

ymally supported on a horizontal Aplane to .supportl u theload `-intransit whetherthe .load be. loose or curated, and whereby the ooring'may be raised to an inclined positionwhen unloading the carv .to'. .cause loose articles to vgravitate toward `the discharge outlet,r or crated articlestoslide toward u thecenter of the car to expediteinanual .unload-A ing'ofl the same.

.Another .feature derived yfronti .the .construction of la v car with adjustable flooringiis the kadditional shippingspace obtained .by normally sup? u porting .theflooring ina horizontal position, and

which rnay ,be raised to an inclined .position kpreparatory .tof-or during unloading; 'The space otherwise wasted by a .pe'rmane'ntly .xed inclined '.'ooringlisutilized as shippingjspace. f

' .Another .feature ofthe i vation is .thefprovision .of Ia railway carhaving'a .novel .removable cross .partition structure, which partition r.strucl ture v.is vertically movable* with f-.theadjustahle flooring to enabler partitioning lof theycar 'intheL u Aseparate storage compartments 'to vsegregate .dif-

ferent yconsignrnents of less-.thancarload lots.`

' .Anotherfeature of the invention vis to provide 'a system'ofaircooling a railwayireight car by vutilizing' the center portionoi the verticalinov-A y 59 .able iiooring as a bellows. to, induce circulation of cool air .through the interior o-f `the-car Joyresiliently .supporting the oori'ngso .as to bevibrated f .dur-ing travel yof the railway car over the tracks.

VSil/ith these and other objects view, thein.- n venti@ resides. 1111.11@gelamineerd.- ensiretioa combinationandfarrangement of parts, 'the essential '.featuresofwhich are lhereinafter' .fullyide` scribed in thefollowing specication; are y.particur n larlypointed oui-,in theapnendedclaims,.and

yillustrated.' .in

the accompanying drawings, in 5 which: 1 n i.

liigure l,1 is a 'side' elevational'view of improved lrailway car with one end Ibroken away and."shown in section, the adjustable .ooring beingshownin normal horizontal position in" 1 0 full lines and' in la raised .inclined position in.`

dotted lines. y

.Figure 2man,enlarged'ideen;.ncrizntal,ee-H tional. view on the line'r2'- 2l of Figure 1.

Figure l3; is an enlarged vertical transverse 15./

sectional View on theflirn-il 3- 3 of Rigure `l.

`. Figure .4 is. `an` enlargedvertical. longitudinal sectional .tiew on the .lineflfllfojf Figure .2. 'y y Figure 5 i's .an enlarged detail verti'cal'sectionaL f Viewl on theline 5--5 of Figure 3. g20 y Figure 6 is' a detailiragrnentary perspective view `of` the .removable Apartition]structure. dis- I connected .fromyone wall-.o .the canbody.

'Figure 731s a. uetai1-horgizoniai'secuonai .View

taken through one endofthef car. just above thev k plane of the adjustable flooring and illustrating 2i .-S 1ight.'modication` y l gzjis au'etail vertical .sectional 30" 1 the .line 9-9 of `Figure 8, illustrating the .ooring z :y in .a normal lhorizontal position.` i

Figure '10.is a view-.sinilaritoligure 9, but

showing the .flooring in a raised inclined .position.` .v Referring-to thedrawings 'by .reference .chari 35 acters,}.the numeral V.lll designates `rny improved railway-'carin itsfentirety, which .includesa .boxe

like car lbody TI. having insulated .iside "walls VI2- 5- l.2,.insulated endwalls I'3- I3,an insulated bottom wall I4 andaninsulatedroof or'topwall'o 1.5. The opposite endsoffthe car .body .are pro' lvided with spaced upwardly extendingl partitions 1.6.-] 6 .whichdivide the main inner.' compartment Iof thev oarbody .from the vrefrigerator conipartments .I1-*l1 disposed at the .e'nds lof thehody .w Aand into which Ia... cooling mediumjsuchas iceI" may -bejplaced The sidefwa1ls'5l2-LIZ or the car .body are ,provided with` the usual -oppositely disposed d001T,-0Peni1`1gs.l,l8, the .same being located centrally ofthe vlengthcf the calbody 50 .and which "are normally :closed .by .doors i9. Preparatory to rthe .loading of the car, the.y door openings lare partially .closed lbyhorizontally disposed planks 20` which A.are slidably .received I in .guides-21 .mounted on inside -of the side 55 i 'odiswalls adjacent opposite sides of the openings I8. The planks 20 are adapted to relieve the strain of the load upon the outer doors I9.

' The central portion of the bottom wall I4 of the car body is provided with a well member 22,

the bottom wall of the said well member being unloading operation, the spout 24 may be con" nected with any form of chute which will carry., the contents of the car clear of the road be"d.` Rising upwardly from the bottomgofrthe .-well..H member 22 is an annular pedestal26 which rotatf l, ably supports a hopper 21, thes'aidhopper havi" ing a discharge opening 28 in registerwith the spout 24. Fitted over theopen top of the hopper 21 is a grille plate 29 having 'openings 3l]` therein of `a size to permit of the free passage of oranges; grapefruit, or other articles shipped in bulk with 4 in the car body II'. Disposed abovev the plane of the top of the hopper 21 and in spaced relation thereto is an apren lplate 3l which is rectangular inplan as shown in Figure 2, thesaid apron plate having a central opening 32 which is of a diameter substantially equal to the outside diameter 'of the hopper 21. The, top face of theap'ron plate`3I is inclined away from the opening 32 in order that articles passing onto the apron will gravitate toward the hopper and enter the samejthrough the openings 30. 1 I

Interposed between the apron'plate 3I and the top of the hopper are slide doors 33-33 Whichare normally in closed position to overliethe top of the hopper, the said doors being movable to open and closed 'positions by rotation imparted to pinion gears 34 which mesh' with rack bars 35 provided on the under side of the'slidedoors 33. Rotation is imparted to the hopper 21 through a driven worm 35 which meshes with a ring gear 31 carried by the hopper 21. The construction of the hopper and its actuating mechanismtogether with theactuating mechanism for' the slide doors 33 is clearly shown and described in my co-pend ing application above referred to, anda further detailed description of vthis construction is not deemed necessary.V

' Overlying the' Ibottoinfwall 'I4 of" the'jcar body at opposite sides of the apronplate 3I and well member 22 are adjustable floor units 38, each unit extending from the apron member 2| to an end partition I6. In view of theofact that each floor unit 38 and its raising and lowering mechanism is identical, a description' ofone will suffice for the other. j

vThe adjustable iloor'units 38 take the place of the wooden floor racksxnow usedin freight and refrigerator cars and makesthe use of such racks unnecessary.

'y Each floor unit `38 includes a sheet metal plate 39 havingA perforations 4IJ therein.. The longi tudinal side edges of the plateare provided with upturned flanges 92. 'Ihe inner end of the plate '39 is fulcrumed or pivoted upon a shoulder 4I Vformed at the outer end ofthe apron plate 3l. The under side of the perforated plate 39 is pro- Vided'with spaced longitudinally extending cleats `42, and fixed tothe inner ends of the cleats are rods 43 which freely extend through enlarged openings 44 in the upstanding end wall 45' of the well member `22. The rods 43 extend Within the k well memberl and carry stops'45 at theirl outer ends and interposed between the stops 46 and the wall are springs 41 which act to move the iioor unit 38 toward the `wall 45 and maintain the inner edge of the plate 39 seated upon the shoulder 4I. This construction provides a resilient hinged connection for one end of the plate 39 in order that the said plate may pivot at its inner end to swing up anddown for apurpose to be presently explained.

The sheet metal platev 39 of the floor unit is supportedvin spaced relation to the bottom wall I4 of the car body to provide air passages 48 iwhich connect with the adjacent ice` compartment I1 through openings 49 provided in the bottom of each partition wall Il.`

the floor platev 39'and outer free end thereof is yieldingly supported by springs 59. The yieldingly supported area of the metal plate 39 permits a' downward flex to that area of the plate when the car is traveling over the rails of a railroad track, due to vibrations imparted theretol and which causes the floor plate 39 to function in the manner of a bellows for forcing cool air from the passages 49 upwardly into the body of the car. The'circulation of air through the floor plate 39 `is from the compartment I1, through the openings 49, passages 48,l thence into thebody of the car by way of the perforations 4I), and then outwardly `through the openings 5I in the top of the partition I6 back into the compartment I1.

To compensate for `the arc which the outer free end of the plate 39 travels during its movement to a raised position, the lower portion of each end wall I6 is curved as at 52, the curvature ofthe portion 52 being struck on the axis of pivotal movement of the plate 39. This construction enables the outer end of the plate 39 to always remain in close proximity to the partition walll I6 to prevent articles from reaching the bottom wall I4 and becoming lodged under the pivoted floor unit 38.

' Journaled in the'sidejwalls I 2-I 2 of the car bodydirectly above the outer free end of each floor unit 38 is a winding shaft 53, the outerends of which are countersunk in the outer side walls I2v and are squared to receive a removable lcrank handle 54. Ratchets 455 are associated'wth the opposite squared ends ofthe shaft 53 to enable a winding movement to be imparted to the shaft and'which ratchet mechanism prevents unwinding rotation of the shaft until such time as the ratchets are releasedto enable unwinding for the purpose now to be explained. Fixed to theouter end of thejwfvloor plate 39 are the lower ends of cables 5B,-the upper ends of the cables being i'ixedly secured'to the shaft 53. 'I'he cables e As `previously explained, the floor units 38 are normally in a horizontal position, and assume that the car is filled with oranges or grapefruit inV bulk for shipment .to a predetermined destina.'- tion. Upon rea-ching its destinationv the Slide doors 33V'ofthe railway car, are opened,"thus permitting the central portion of the load of the which extend through guide slots 84 in the floor 10 plate 39". The outer end of the extension plate 82 carries rollers 85 which bear against the vertical end. walls I6', and;which rollers areurged against the wall I6' `by springs 86, one end of the springs being connected to pins 81 carried by l 313 the oor plate 39 while the opposite ends of the springs are connected to-pins 88 connected to the extensionplate 82. From this construction,V it will be seen that the extension plate 82 serves to close the space between the outer end of the 20 pivoted floor plate 38 and the end partition I8' to prevent fruit or articles shipped in the car from accidentally dropping beneath `the floor plate 39.

i While I have shown and described what I con- 2B sider to be the most practical embodiment of my invention, I wish it to be understood that certain changes and alterations as come Within the scope of the appended claims may be resorted to if desired. i

'30 Having thus described the invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States, is:

1. A railway car comprising in combination, an enclosedcar body, intermediatewalls adjacent the end walls of the car body, a xed apron member mounted centrally of said car body and having a discharge outlet therein, floor units having their inner ends fulcrumed at opposite sides of said apron member and their other ends disposed closely adjacent the respective intermediate walls, the intermediate walls of said enclosed car body having curved portions, the curvature of said curved portions being on` an arc concentric tothe fulcrum points of the respective floor units, means for normally'supporting said floor units on a horizontal plane, and means connected to the outer'free ends of said floorfunits for raising and supporting the same in a position inclined toward `said apron member.

' p 2.` Iny a `railway car,v an enclosed car body having a discharge outlet centrally in the bottom thereof, -flooring pivotally mounted in said car body for movement from a horizontal position to an inclined position toward said discharge outlet, transverse partitions, means for slidably and pivotally `mounting said partitions inthe side walls of said ycar body at opposite sides of said discharge outlet and dividing the car body into a central Ycompartment and end compartments, and releasable latch means for locking said partitions to the flooring to prevent accidental sliding andswinging movement of the same.

, 3; In a railway car, an enclosed car body having a discharge outlet centrally in the bottom thereof, flooring inclined toward said `discharge outlet, transverse partitions pivotally mounted in the side walls of said car body at opposite sides of said discharge outlet and dividing the caribody into a central compartment and end compartments, and releasable latch means for locking said partitions to the flooring to prevent accidental swinging movements of the same, said releasable latch means includinghook levers pivoted to the lower portion of each of said partitions, keeper memberson said iiooring` for engagement by said hook levers, a tie rod connectingsaid hook levers, an actuating lever, and a link connecting said actuating lever and tie rod.

4. In a railway car, a car body, a pivoted floor mounted in said car body for pivotal movement from a normal horizontal position to a raised in- `clined position, a transverse partition seated on Y 'ALBERT A. JOHNSON. 

